Mallard Island Photos

Below is a selection of photos from Mallard Island, a location prominently featured in my novel Spear Hunter.

All photos were taken by my father, Gary J. Olsen, in the summer of 2009. To avoid spoilers I’ve kept the descriptions brief.

Here are two photos of Front House, where one of the professor’s clues is hidden.

Front House

Front House from another angle

Next we have the Wannigan, the building that John and Nathan step into to escape the rain.

Wannigan

Here is Winter House, where John and Nathan peruse a collection of books.

Winter House

Out of all the buildings on Mallard Island, I’ve perhaps taken the most liberties with Japanese House. While I described the house accurately, down to the Japanese characters on the floor, I’ve added certain features that aren’t in the original design. (If you’ve read Spear Hunter, you should be able to guess which features these are.)

Japanese House

While the below locations weren’t featured in Spear Hunter, I’ve included these photos to help you better visualize the island as a whole.

First is Cedar Bark. Like the Wannigan, it is also a converted houseboat.

Cedar Bark

Cedar Bark interior

Cedar Bark interior

Small bridges lead to nearby islands.

A stone bridge

And finally we have Ober’s House, where Ernest Oberholtzer’s lived.

Ober’s House

A closer view of Ober’s House

If you’re interested in learning more about Mallard Island or Ernest Oberholtzer, I recommend you visit the Ernest Oberholtzer Foundation’s homepage. Or, better yet, you could visit Mallard Island for yourself!